Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Extra Credit

Yes I'll give you extra credit. No, not for putting a title on your paper. No, not for putting your name on your paper. Not for listing the criteria of the assignmnet and drawing arrows to your writing that show exactly how you met that criteria. No, not if you write which genre your piece is in. No, not if you show up on the last day of class. No, not if you make me a CD but I really would like one. No, not if you feed my cat over break. But yes if you make sense of something that did not make sense to me before. Yes if you read your work aloud in class. Yes if you tell me that I confused you all semester but that that confusion is beginning to take hold and make sense itself. I'll give you extra credit for getting rid of every time the word "tear" appears in your poem. I'll give you extra credit for deleting the last sentence of every story you wrote. I'll give you extra credit for explaining why your story is not a poem and your essay a story. I'll give you extra credit for using the word snake and ripple. For Tucson and strawberry. For synaesthesia by choice not by grammatical mistake.

4 comments:

I think I _might_ give extra credit for the criteria-and-arrows thing. It's satire! It's funny! Even if it's only funny to you, and you're the one satirizing the student by giving him/her extra credit.

I want to give extra credit to someone for saying that I confused him (you know it's a him) all semester but that now the confusion is beginning to, what was it?, clarify itself. But unfortunately I don't think anyone will say that to me. But I would give extra credit for ridiculous non-content related things, like singing or bringing me cookies. Or, okay, _actual_ revisions of stories. Or explaining to me why, when you get to the bottom of it, all the genres are essentially the same. I'm a creative non/fiction poet.Or for coming up with a good nickname for me. I need a nickname.

For a nickname--how about Lynko? Reminiscent of grad school yes? I love the idea of extra (um) credit for (cough) clarity. Oh yeah. Or twenty bucks (just kidding) Or actual revision. Though I imagine they'd prefer just to hand over the cash.